The Conversation


brags that Rezidor boasts the “largest upscale and mid-scale pipeline in Europe, with 6,047 rooms signed for Park Inn and 5,399 for Radisson Blu. We’re already the leading hotel operation in Russia, the CIS and the Baltics,” he says. “We’re way ahead of IHG, Marriott and Accor in the region.” Such aggressive expansion has almost been achieved by stealth as most industry observers would place its competitive set – the more high profile brands mentioned above – ahead of Rezidor. “Scandinavians are very modest,” he explains. “We’re the best kept secret in the hotel industry.” Scandinavians are also great advocates of saving the planet and as early as the 1980s, the hotel group took up the green mantle. Rezidor is in the vanguard of waste control and the like, and Ritter has no time for those tardy hotel groups yet to embrace what is good for the planet and good for the bottom line. Over 30 years in the business means Ritter has witnessed massive changes, most notably to hotel ownership structure. Today, hotel brands’ bricks and mortar are most commonly sold off to venture capitalist and investment companies. The Rezidor Hotel Group has


been a plc since 2006, trading on the OMX Stockholm, after Scandinavian Airlines decided to concentrate on their core business and divest the hotel segment. Ritter says, “it’s not heaven on earth; it’s a lot of work to do which is nothing to do with hotelkeeping. It’s complicated my life but it also opens up opportunities. Today, we’re at a size of company where we get more main contracts.” Despite his pragmatism, he’s saddened for


been that we are very decisive and can move quickly. Our agility is an advantage,” he says. Rezidor’s pace of growth has turned Ritter


into the archetypal business traveller, always on the road and never in one place for too long. “You get used to all the travelling,” he says. “I make sure I get more rest now; I used to have two hours sleep on long-haul flights and now I need three and a half,” he quips. The one area of the business that Rezidor


"Twenty years ago I signed for a bucket of paint but now I see things in a more strategic way and I’m less hands on"


hasn’t entered into is the burgeoning budget sector. Ritter says he has his hands full but the company is still sitting with the Country Inn brand on the shelf and “wondering what to do with it”, adding in almost the same breath that “there’s a hell of a segment opportunity in two- star. We will one day get into the budget sector but I don’t know if it’ll be in my time.” It looks likely it will happen in a post-Ritter period as he’s pretty sure that we’ve seen the worst of the recession. “After a down is an up – the million dollar question is when. I’ve been in this business a few years and it’s normally a six year cycle.” He cites the slow growth of RevPAR (revenue per available room) during 2010, reaching 2008 levels towards the end of the year. ”There’s still a way to go but


it’s a tremendous improvement. MICE business has improved but is not back and overall 2009 has been a good school for


many. We reduced costs by 35 million euros in 2009 and grew profits faster,” he says. If Ritter does step down in 2012 then the Rezidor Hotel Group will be in good shape, but it’s an awfully big pair of shoes that someone will have to fill.


hotel general managers, and in particular for the changes that ownership changes bring. “The host role has been pushed away and instead they’ve become wizards in labour laws and employment laws and sophisticated distribution yeild management systems. Profits have become far more important now; there are no emotions anymore,” he says ruefully. But he is as much fascinated with the changes as anything. “It’s a different job now but the whole journey has been interesting.” Learning to delegate and learning not to get involved on hotel visits has been a challenge. “Twenty years ago I signed for a bucket of paint but now I see things in a more strategic way and I’m less hands on. The art is have the people who do it like you do,” he says. Nonetheless Ritter admits that he sometimes


finds it frustrating and, emotionally, would like to be more involved. The Rezidor hierarchy is fairly flat, with a head of operations, a layer of regional managers then general managers reporting into him. “One of our strengths has


KURT RITTER PRESIDENT & CEO, THE REZIDOR HOTEL GROUP


Kurt Ritter is president and ceo of The Rezidor Hotel Group. Under his leadership, Rezidor has developed into a major global player in the hotel industry. It features fi ve distinctive brands and almost 350 hotels with more than 74,000 rooms in operation and under development in 53 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Kurt Ritter has been at the helm of Rezidor for 32 years, including 19 years as president and ceo – he is probably the longest serving ceo within the industry and will continue to head the company until 2012.


THE EVOLUTION OF THE BRAND


In 1994, SIH entered into a master franchise agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide for the Radisson brand, which led to a name change: Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts. Seven years later, the group was renamed Rezidor SAS Hospitality to foster the new multi-brand portfolio which kicked off in 2002 as the company signed an agreement with Carlson to also develop the Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2005, Rezidor created a new lifestyle brand by signing a worldwide license agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni to develop and operate Hotel Missoni properties.


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